National Stem Cell Bank wants to house new cell lines

The bank that houses and distributes most of the stem cells available for federally funded research in the United States hopes to add cells created with a new technique that does not involve the destruction of embryos.

The National Institutes of Health created the bank in Madison in 2005 as the central repository for federally approved embryonic stem cells. It is operated by the WiCell Research Institute, a nonprofit connected to the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Scientists at UW-Madison and in Japan reported last month they were able to turn human skin cells into stem cells, which hold promise for medical breakthroughs because they can become virtually …